Poll: Schwarzenegger lead over Angelides is expanding

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a commanding 17-point lead over Democratic rival Phil Angelides with just six weeks to go until the November 7 election, according to a just released Public Policy Institute of California poll.

Forty-eight percent of likely voters support the Republican governor, with just 31 percent saying they would vote for Angelides, who is currently the state treasurer.

That’s a jump from a 13-point margin in two surveys taken over the summer. In the current survey, 15 percent of likely voters are still undecided and six percent name another candidate.

Independents give Schwarzenegger a boost, with 42 percent supporting him compared to 27 percent for Angelides. GOP voters overwhelmingly back the governor, with 82 percent in his corner. Meanwhile, 57 percent of Democrats support Angelides, while 21 percent favor Schwarzenegger. Significantly, many Democrats (17 percent) and independents (21 percent) still say they are undecided in the governor’s race, the poll finds.

The poll results are based on a telephone survey of 2,003 California adult residents interviewed between September 13 and September 20 and the sampling error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.